Sam Curran hits 88 but Chahal's hat-trick keeps Chennai Super Kings to 190 against Punjab Kings
Chennai, Apr 30 (PTI): Sam Curran braved testing conditions to produce an imperious 88 but a late four-wicket burst from Yuzvendra Chahal, including a hat-trick, kept Chennai Super Kings to 190 all out against Punjab Kings in their Indian Premier League match here on Wednesday.
Curran’s first fifty of the season (88 off 47 balls, 9x4 4x6) as he anchored the recovery process of his side from a precarious 48 for three in the power play.
With their backs against the wall, Curran teamed up with Dewald Brevis (32) to carefully plot CSK’s way back into the contest with a robust 78-run fourth-wicket stand and turned on the heat on PBKS bowling.
Until the 16th over, CSK coasted well at nearly nine runs an over when the England all-rounder picked Suryansh Shedge to attack.
The first two balls were struck for sixes over long-off and deep square leg, and on the third legitimate delivery it took a splendid diving effort from Shreyas Iyer to save a certain third six in the over.
But Curran wasn’t done yet as he pierced gaps on the next two deliveries to get as many boundaries, eventually collecting 26 off the PBKS novice.
Curran’s onslaught forced PBKS’ strike bowler Arshdeep to resort to wide full tosses, which resulted in a tidy over for four runs but for which he had to bowl eight deliveries as two were wide deliveries.
Curran eventually fell in the 18th over, getting an edge while attempting to duck under a Marco Jansen bouncer, but not before producing a knock of spunk and substance from any batter in the famed yellow jersey this season.
Chahal, who was wicketless until the penultimate over, was hit for a six by MS Dhoni (11) but the bowler had him caught at long off on the second delivery.
On the fourth, Deepak Hooda (2) played one meekly towards backward point while on the fifth, impact substitute Anshul Kamboj (0) was cleaned up.
Noor Ahmad (0) tried to put one away but ended up miscuing his shot and Jansen came in from long-on to complete the hat-trick, which was the lef-spinner's second in the IPL.
It was once again a disappointing start to the innings for CSK in which their openers Shaik Rasheed (11) and Ayush Mhatre (7) fell without making a dent.
Rasheed hit a couple of attractive strokes before mistiming one and Shashank Singh collected an easy grab off Arshdeep in the third over.
Mhatre failed to clear mid-off where Shreyas took a nice grab after covering some distance on his left for Jansen’s first wicket in the game.
Ravindra Jadeja (17) showed aggressive intent right from ball one but he fell to Harpreet Brar trying to cut one too close to the body and was caught behind.
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UDF leaders see local body poll trends as pointer to 2026 Assembly elections in Kerala
Thiruvananthapuram (PTI): Buoyed by the strong performance of the Congress-led UDF in the local body polls, KPCC president Sunny Joseph said on Saturday that the front's results indicated the people had rejected the LDF government.
According to early trends, the UDF was leading in more grama panchayats, block panchayats, municipalities and corporations than the LDF.
The local body polls were held in two phases in the state earlier this week.
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Speaking to reporters here, Joseph said the people of Kerala had extended their support to the UDF.
"We could expose the LDF government’s anti-people stance and the people understood it. The LDF’s fake propaganda was rejected by the people. The UDF is moving towards a historic victory," he said.
He said a united effort, proper preparations, good candidate selection and hard work had resulted in the Congress and the UDF’s victory in the elections.
Asked about the prospects in the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation, Joseph said the party was studying the matter and would comment later.
LDF convenor T P Ramakrishnan said the results would be closely examined.
According to him, the government had done everything possible for the people.
"Why such a verdict happened will be examined at the micro level. People’s opinion will be considered and further steps will be taken," he said.
He added that decisions would be taken after analysing the results. "If any corrective measures are required, we will initiate them and move forward," he said.
AICC leader K C Venugopal said the results showed that people had begun ousting those who, he alleged, were responsible for the loss of gold at Lord Ayyappa’s temple.
"This trend will continue in the Assembly elections as well. It is an indication that the people are ready to bring down the LDF government," he said.
Venugopal said the UDF had registered victories even in CPI(M) and LDF strongholds.
"I congratulate all UDF workers for their hard work. Congress workers and leaders worked unitedly," he said.
Referring to remarks made by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan against the Congress on polling day, Venugopal said the voters had responded through the verdict.
"I do not know whether the chief minister understands that the people are against him. Otherwise, he does not know the sentiment of the people. The state government cannot move an inch further," he said.
He said the results indicated a strong comeback for the UDF in Kerala.
Asked whether the Sabarimala gold loss issue had affected the LDF in the local polls, Venugopal said the CM and the CPI(M) state secretary did not take the issue seriously.
"We took a strong stand on the matter. The BJP played a foul game in it," he alleged.
On the BJP's role in the local body elections, Venugopal alleged that the party operated with the CPI(M) 's tacit support.
"The CPI(M) supported the central government on issues such as PM-SHRI, labour codes and corruption in national highway construction. The CPI(M) is facing ideological decline, and the state government’s policies are against the party’s own decisions," he said.
Meanwhile, LDF ally Kerala Congress (M) leader Jose K Mani said the party could not win all the wards it had expected in the elections.
He congratulated winners from all parties and said the party would closely examine the losses and identify shortcomings. "Later, we will take corrective measures," he added.
Senior Congress leader and MP Rajmohan Unnithan said the trends in the local body elections indicated that the UDF would return to power in the 2026 Assembly elections.
"We will win 111 seats as in 1977 and return to power in 2026. The anti-government sentiment of the people is reflected in the elections," he said.
Unnithan said the people were disturbed and unhappy with the present government.
"The trend indicates the end of the LDF government," he added.
CPI(M) MLA M M Mani said the people had shown ingratitude towards the LDF despite benefiting from welfare schemes.
"After receiving all welfare schemes and living comfortably, people voted against us due to some temporary sentiments. Is that not ingratitude," he asked.
Mani said no such welfare initiatives had taken place in Kerala earlier.
"People are receiving pensions and have enough to eat. Even after getting all this, they voted against us. This is what can be called ingratitude," he said.
Muslim League state president Panakkad Sayyid Sadiq Ali Shihab Thangal said the results were beyond expectations.
"The outcome points towards the Secretariat in Thiruvananthapuram, indicating that a change of government is imminent. We are going to win the Assembly election," he said.
